Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2008-09: Mika Zibanejad played for the AIK club for most of the season. For the Under-16 squad, Zibanejad scored 7 goals and added 8 assists for 15 points in 8 games. For the Junior 18-year-old team, he scored 2 goals and added 2 assists for 4 points in 11 games. In 4 games for Sweden's Under-16 team, Zibanejad scored 1 goal and added 1 assist for 2 points.

2009-10: Spent the season with the Djurgarden club. In 28 games for the Junior 18-year-old squad, Zibanejad scored 14 goals and added 21 assists for 35 points. In 5 playoff games at that level, He scored 5 goals and added 4 assists for 9 points. In 14 games for the Junior 20-year-old team, Zibanejad scored 2 goals and added 2 assists for 4 points. Zibanejad played for Sweden at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, scoring 5 goals and adding 4 assists for 9 points in 6 games. In 13 international game overall, he scored 9 goals and added 6 assists for 15 points.

2010-11: Zibanejad again played for the Djurgarden organization. For the 20-year-old squad, he scored 12 goals and added 9 assists for 21 points in 27 games. He also played in 3 playoff games at that level, scoring 1 goal and adding 2 assists for 3 points. Zibanejad also saw his first action in Sweden's Elite league, scoring 5 goals and adding 4 assists for 9 points in 26 games. His point total was the most by an Under-18 player in that league. He also played in 7 playoff games at that level, scoring 1 goal and chipping in 1 assist for 2 points. Playing for Sweden at the 2011 Under-18 World Junior Championship, Zibanejad scored 4 goals and added 4 assists for 8 points in 6 games for the silver medalists.

2011-12: Zibanejad signed a three-year entry-level contract with Ottawa in July 2011 and skated in nine games with the Senators before being re-assigned. He had 1 assist and was minus-three with 2 penalty minutes, seeing just under 13 minutes of ice time per game, in his brief NHL experience. Zibanejad returned to Sweden to play for Djurgardens, and represented Sweden at the 2012 U20 World Junior Championship. He battled through a difficult first pro season as Djurgardens finished eleventh in the 12-team league and he missed several games due to injury. In 26 games he scored 5 goals and 8 assists and was minus-two. Zibanejad led Djurgardens in scoring during the 10-game Kval series, scoring 4 goals with 2 assists, and was plus-3 with 2 penalty minutes (Djurgardens was demoted to AllSvenskan after finishing third). In six games for gold medal-winning Sweden at the WJC he scored 4 goals with 1 assist and was plus-three. Zibanejad scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in a 1-0 OT win over Russia.

2012-13: One of several rookies to see key minutes for the Senators due to several injuries, Zibanejad appeared in 42 games for Ottawa after beginning his first pro season in North America in the AHL with Binghamton. Often teamed with fellow rookies Jakob Silfverberg and late season acquisition Cory Conacher, he scored 7 goals with 13 assists and was +9 with 6 penalty minutes: averaging 13:33 minutes of ice time. Zibanejad skated in 10 playoff games, scoring 1 goal with 3 assists, and was -3 in a second and third line role.

Talent Analysis

There is a lot to like about Zibanejad’s game: offensive skills, intensity, skating and an impressive attitude. His two-way play is mature for a player his age and he just has an innate feel for many of the more subtle aspects of the game such as face-offs and reading the play along with the physical components required to win puck battles and playing tough but within the rules. The offensive skills are there and it’s a matter of more polish and experience at this point. Ottawa will look for him to keep his poise as he develops into a complete NHL power forward.

Future

Photo: St. Louis Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko has been brilliant in his NHL rookie season. Tarasenko was drafted 16th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. (courtesy of Derek Leung/Getty Images)

While picking the top NHL prospect is never an easy task, it was particularly difficult in the Spring Top 50 rankings as there were several candidates worthy of consideration for top prospect. Many prospects performed at a high level this season, particularly in the NHL, where a truncated regular season has seen over 125 rookies lace up for at least one game.

Photo: Now in his third year of professional hockey, Patrick Wiercioch has started to blossom into an offensive defenseman. Through 30 AHL games he has nine goals and nine assists. (Jay Kopinski/Icon SM)

In years past, Ottawa's AHL affiliate has been a mixed roster of AHL veterans, free agent signings, and draft picks. This is no longer the case. The Binghamton Senators are stacked with young talent and are among the youngest teams in the AHL.

Photo: Mark Borowiecki is one of several defensive prospects the Ottawa Senators have playing at the AHL level. (Tony Medina/Icon SMI)

The future of the Ottawa Senators looks bright. The Senators are considered to have one of the better pools of young talent in the NHL and, while some top draftees have recently cemented themselves on the Ottawa roster, most notably Erik Karlsson and Jared Cowen, there are many prospects on the verge of becoming solid NHL contributors in the near future. The club has quality and various skill-sets in all positions and has worked to draft where they previously had weak depth.

In the final installment of Hockey's Future's Top 50 prospect rankings we look at the top 10 spots. Seven players from the previous ranking maintained their status with the top group, but there are several prominent new additions, most notably 2012 first overall pick Nail Yakupov (EDM).

Photo: Forward Jarrod Maidens has to yet to return to action after suffering a concussion in November 2011. (CHL Images)

If the Ottawa Senators' appearance in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs was surprising, it was only because no one expected the organization's young talent to develop so quickly. With Erik Karlsson leading the way, the Senators have another triumvirate of future Swedish stars in forwards Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg and goaltender Robin Lehner in the pipeline.